U.S. patent application number 13/690024 was filed with the patent office on 2013-06-06 for method and system of tools for helping persons to become lean and healthy.
This patent application is currently assigned to Crossan IP Law, LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Crossan IP Law, LLC. Invention is credited to Guy Bruce.
Application Number | 20130143182 13/690024 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48524263 |
Filed Date | 2013-06-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130143182 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bruce; Guy |
June 6, 2013 |
METHOD AND SYSTEM OF TOOLS FOR HELPING PERSONS TO BECOME LEAN AND
HEALTHY
Abstract
A system and method by which users desiring to improve and
maintain their health, to resist disease and bodily malfunction,
increase their productivity, and decrease their health care costs
may record their daily activities, food intake, and various health
measures on an internet-based web site. Software at the site
provides an automated shaping process, setting individualized
eating, activity, and health progress goals, using a formula that
increases the probability that each goal will be achieved,
immediately informing the user when he or she has made progress
towards or achieved a goal, and awards points which users can
exchange for their choice of incentives. Graphic feedback on user
progress towards long-term eating, activity and health goals is
provided. It calculates the number of current lifestyle disease
risk factors from user eating, activity, and health measures and
provides individualized advice on how to reduce disease risk. A
health coach may be engaged.
Inventors: |
Bruce; Guy; (Chicago,
IL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Crossan IP Law, LLC; |
Chicago |
IL |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Crossan IP Law, LLC
Chicago
IL
|
Family ID: |
48524263 |
Appl. No.: |
13/690024 |
Filed: |
November 30, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61566141 |
Dec 2, 2011 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
434/127 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09B 19/0092 20130101;
G16H 20/60 20180101 |
Class at
Publication: |
434/127 |
International
Class: |
G09B 19/00 20060101
G09B019/00 |
Claims
1. A system and method for reducing chronic disease risk and
improving health in a user, the system and method comprising: an
Internet-based database containing health, disease-risk, nutrition,
and activity information; the database having, an interface that
allows the user to record eating, activity, and health measures;
and an automated shaping process means for setting progress goals
for eating and activity measures, within the variability of the
user's most recently-recorded measures, wherein the goals are
calculated to increase the probability that the user will achieve
them, the process means providing immediate written and graphic
feedback on progress towards achieving said goals, with automated
updating of each goal based on new user data.
2. The system defined in claim 1, wherein said automated shaping
process further awards incentive points that the user can exchange
for his or her choice of incentives when the user achieves any of
his or her goals.
3. The system defined in claim 1, wherein eating and activity goals
are updated daily.
4. The system defined in claim 1, wherein the automated shaping
process further: sets multiple progress goals for health measures,
within the variability of the user's most recent measures and which
are calculated to increase the probability that the user will
achieve the goals, provides immediate feedback on progress towards
and achievement of goals, awards points for achieving goals, which
the users can exchange for their chosen incentives, and updates the
health measures and goals whenever a new measure is recorded.
5. The system defined in claim 1, wherein said automated shaping
process further provides graphical feedback in the form of charts
showing user progress over time towards achieving any of long-term
disease risk reduction, health, healthy eating, and activity
goals.
6. The system defined in claim 1, wherein said automated shaping
process further provides advice on how to reduce current disease
risk, specific to the individual's current risk factors calculated
from the individual's most recent health, eating, and activity
measures.
7. The system defined in claim 1, wherein an assigned health coach
has access to the user's account, whereby to enable providing
effective coaching.
8. The system defined in claim 1, further comprising an interactive
learning program means for providing immediate, automated, charted
feedback on the efficiency of learner progress toward mastery,
wherein efficiency of progress is computed as the ratio of change
in the learner's performance frequency divided by minutes of
interaction time with the system's learning activity between the
pre-test and the post-test.
Description
[0001] This application timely claims the benefit of the filing
date and disclosure of the pending Provisional Patent Application
filed Dec. 2, 2011, as Ser. No. 61/566,141.
1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is an internet-based method and system
that helps users change their eating and activity choices in order
to improve their health. It provides an automated shaping process
that allows users to record their food and liquid intake, activity
and sleep duration, smoking and health measures, sets
individualized daily progress goals to increase healthy eating,
activity, and sleep duration and to decrease smoking and unhealthy
eating and activity choices, immediately informs the user when he
or she achieves a goal, and awards incentive points which users can
exchange for their choice of incentives. The system also informs
users of their current modifiable disease risk factors and progress
towards reducing them, based on the user's current and previously
recorded behavior and health measures. It also provides resources
such as healthy recipes and menus. Information, in a question and
answer database from research on the effects of eating and activity
choices on disease risk is also provided. The system teaches how to
make healthy choices with interactive activities, connects users to
other users through a private list serve, and advises users on
healthy eating and activity choices, including those that will
reduce the individual's current disease risk factors.
2. BACKGROUND OF THE ART
[0003] The Internet has many pages and sites with healthy living
advice, dietary plans, exercise regimens, and simple recording of
eating and exercise choices, some providing simple feedback on
caloric intake and expenditure, amount of basic nutrients consumed
or points earned. None is known to provide an automated,
individualized shaping process in which measures of the user's
current eating, activity, and health--which medical research has
shown to affect disease risk--are used to set daily, weekly, and
monthly goals. A formula designed to increase the probability that
current goals will be achieved is used. The user is immediately
informed when he or she has met a goal, and points are awarded
which the user may exchange for an incentive prize. New progress
goals are set for the next day or period. The shaping process,
technically defined as the differential reinforcement of successive
approximations to a target behavior, has been shown to be very
effective in teaching a variety of novel behaviors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Disclosed is a web-based software application that provides
a comprehensive set of tools to help people change their eating and
activity choices in order to reduce their disease risk.
[0005] The present method and system allows users to record their
eating, drinking, activity, sleep, smoking, and smoking
alternatives by typing keywords into a search field or clicking on
buttons next to these options, clicking on the name of the specific
food or activity, and then typing the amount of that food consumed
or the duration of the activity. Each food or activity included in
the database includes detailed information about that item. For
foods, the database contains the full set of nutrient values that
research has shown to be related to increased or decreased disease
risk. For activities, the database includes the calorie expenditure
per minute and the classification of that activity as
cardiovascular, strength building, and relaxation.
[0006] Users are able to access the information about each food or
activity in the database by clicking on that item. Each food has
been categorized as healthy, cautionary, or unhealthy according to
research-based criteria on the disease risk correlated with eating
that food. The food is marked as green, yellow, or red to identify
or include its category. Users can request that additional foods or
activities be added to the database, by clicking on a "request
foods" or "request activities" link, which allows them to send
information about the food or activity to a dietitian or exercise
physiologist, provided as part of the method and system. Users can
also obtain healthy recipes for many items in the database by
clicking on the recipe link. Users may also access menus that have
been developed and taste tested by dietitians and in pilot test
groups. The system and method also has a feature that allows users
to create their own recipes or workout routines, composed of items
in the eating or activity databases. In addition, users may add
their favorite foods or activities to a personal favorites
database. The system and method also provides users with a question
and answer database that provides summaries and recommendations
about healthy eating and activities from current research.
[0007] The present system and method allows users to record a
variety of health measures that predict disease risk. The more
frequently recorded measures are body fat, lean body mass, waist
circumference, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, heart
recovery rate, carbon monoxide (for smokers). Less frequently
recorded measures include cholesterol (LDL, HDL, and total),
C-reactive protein, glucose, homocysteine, triglycerides, and
Hemoglobin A1C. Users may also record their health expenses. They
may obtain information about how to record these measures, the
research-based values that predict reduced disease risk, and the
benefits of achieving those values, by clicking on an information
link for each measure.
[0008] The method and system sets easy to achieve personal progress
goals based on the individual's last seven days of eating and
activity measures and the user's last two health measures. These
goals extend far beyond the usual calorie intake and expenditure
measures to include goals for healthy eating and activity choices
based on the best research. For example, goals for healthy eating
include grams and ratios of different types of fats, ratios of
plant to animal protein, fiber and glycemic load, caloric density,
vitamins and minerals, water, as well as a number of healthy,
cautionary, and unhealthy servings as defined by the research on
disease risk. Goals for healthy activity include minutes spent in
each of three types of activities, cardiovascular, strength
building, and relaxation. Smokers have goals for both reducing
number of cigarettes smoked and increasing the number of healthy
alternatives. In addition, the program of the system and method
includes setting goals for balance between calorie intake and
expenditure. The program also sets easy to achieve personal
progress goals for the health measures previously listed. The
program automatically calculates and updates personal progress
goals every day so the goals are always based upon the user's last
seven days of entries, using a shaping process formula designed to
increase the probability that each goal will be achieved by the
user. The system calculates the average of the last seven days, for
instance, of user-recorded food and activity choices for each of
the measures listed above, e.g., average grams of fiber or average
duration of cardiovascular activity. It then calculates the next
goal, such as a daily goal, for each measure as the average of the
user's highest value and the average value for the measure during
the last seven days. Because this formula sets the current goal
within the current variability of user choices, higher than the
average but lower than the best value, it should increase the
probability that the current goal will be achieved. At the
beginning of each new 24-hour cycle, the process automatically
recalculates the entire set of user eating and activity goals, so
that they are always based on the last seven days of user
measures.
[0009] The present system and method provides immediate feedback
each time a user records an eating, activity, or health measure or
achieves a daily eating or activity progress goal or longer term
healthy progress goal, and it awards points immediately for
achieving each goal. Immediate feedback on progress towards
achieving daily goals is displayed in a set of dials on the screen
where the user has recorded eating, activity, or health measures.
Each dial shows the current progress goal as a line separating red
and green sections of the dial and as a number just below the dial.
The current value of the measure is shown with a needle that points
to the current value of that measure along the dial. The feedback
for achieving a goal is a text message informing the user that he
or she has achieved specific progress goals and showing the number
of points that the user has earned for achieving those goals, along
with an optional, auditory applause clip. Feedback on achieving
goals that are based on daily maximum intake values is provided at
the end of the user's recording day, when the user has informed the
central program computer that he or she has finished recording for
that day. The method and system also provides feedback on progress
towards meeting longer-term goals by displaying eating, activity
and health measures across week and months of user interaction with
long-term goals indicated by horizontal lines on the charts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 shows the home page of an Internet site for
interacting with a specific user, showing body shape feedback,
incentive points, the Health Plan Wizard, and links to program
features.
[0011] FIG. 2 shows the page where users can get information and
advice about foods and liquids, record their food and liquid
intake, and get feedback on their progress towards achieving
healthy eating goals.
[0012] FIG. 3 shows feedback on healthy eating progress goals
achieved and incentive points earned by a user.
[0013] FIG. 4 shows the page where users can get information about
activities, record their activities, and get feedback on their
progress towards achieving healthy activity goals.
[0014] FIG. 5 shows feedback on healthy activity progress goals
achieved and incentive points earned.
[0015] FIG. 6 shows the page where users can get information and
advice about frequently recorded health measures, record their
current health measures, and get feedback on their progress towards
achieving these health progress goals.
[0016] FIG. 7 shows the page where users can get information and
advice about less frequently recorded health measures, record their
current health measures, and get feedback on their progress towards
achieving these health progress goals.
[0017] FIG. 8 shows the page where users can record smoking and
alternative activities and get feedback on their progress towards
achieving their smoking reduction progress goals.
[0018] FIG. 9 shows the page where users can get feedback on their
progress in reducing disease risks factors and get individualized
advice to the user.
[0019] FIG. 10 shows a learning efficiency progress chart for one
learner's progress towards mastery of a learning program
objective.
[0020] FIG. 11 provides healthy menus for multiple weeks, with
nutrition details.
[0021] FIG. 12 provides a recipes database, color-coded as healthy,
cautionary, or unhealthy, with nutrient values listed for each
recipe.
[0022] FIG. 13 shows a database that users can search to find
answers to their questions about health research.
[0023] FIG. 14 provides a link to a community forum for members and
coaches.
THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0024] The method and system provides graphic feedback on the
current day's eating, activity, and most recent health measures in
the form of dials that display measures of nutrient, activity, and
health measures based on user entries and values associated in the
program's database for each item. For example, if the user records
that he ate one apple, the system will add or calculate the amount
of fiber, flavonoids, type of fats, glycemic load, plant protein,
and other nutrient values and add those values to the previous
daily totals for each of those measures. In addition, the system
will calculate and display the current progress goal on each dial.
Eating, activity, and health measures are calculated and updated by
the program each time the user records them.
[0025] The drawing figures show an exemplary set of Internet-based
screens of a system and method for implementing one form of this
invention, from the Home screen through data recording and feedback
screens to a community forum screen or link. Color-coding assists
the user in identifying progress and goals.
[0026] The present method and system allows users to accumulate and
exchange points they have earned, by achieving eating, activity,
and health progress goals, for incentives that the user can choose.
Users are able to view their current point totals and a list of
incentive items with the points required for exchange listed next
to each item. Administrators are able to set the point values
required to obtain each incentive and to add to and update the list
of incentives.
[0027] The method and system automatically calculates and graphs
the number of preventable risk factors for arterial disease,
cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and respiratory disease, based on
the user's last seven days for recorded eating, activity, and most
recent health measures, and it automatically updates these graphs
every day. Users may view graphs of the number of current risk
factors and how these have changed over time for each of the
lifestyle-related diseases, arterial (coronary, cerebrovascular,
peripheral), cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and respiratory
diseases. The user's number of risk factors is color-coded in bands
of green, yellow, and red. The method and system displays advice on
how to reduce each of the user's current risk factors by changing
eating and activity choices.
[0028] In addition to graphs of risk factors, the method and system
displays user progress feedback graphs for all eating, activity,
and health measures recorded by the user. These graphs allow users
to evaluate visually how these measures are changing over time and
to compare current measures to long-term goals set according to the
best current research on the effect of life-style choices on
disease risk.
[0029] The method and system also provides feedback on changes in
the user's body shape with a feature that allows the user to import
digital photos of him or her-self. The system and method
time-stamps each photo and then plays the photos in a slide show so
that users can view changes in their body shape over time.
[0030] The method and system also includes a learning program that
has a game-like format, with features such as a) pre- and
post-testing, b) a learning activity with instructions, practice,
and immediate feedback, c) a progress graph that shows the user's
improvement per amount of time spent practicing, and d) automatic
sequencing through the pre-test, learning activities, and
post-test, based on the learner's performance. Achieving learning
goals also earns incentive points. Another feature of the learning
programs is that the instructions that help learners proceed
correctly are available during practice, whenever the learner
requests them. Another feature is that accuracy and speed of
performance, as well as learning efficiency (considered as the
improvement in accuracy and speed per amount of time the learner
spent interacting with the learning activity), are displayed on
learner progress graphs at the end of each learning activity or
test session.
[0031] The method and system has a wizard feature that helps users
set up their personal accounts and a personal coaching feature. If
the user requests coaching, the system will provide the coach with
on-line access to the user's account. The feature allows only
approved coaches to record health measures for assigned users. For
users who want social support, the program advantageously provides
a list serve that allows them to send and receive e-mails to other
users and their advisors and to system administrators. Finally,
users will be able to access the method and system via their smart
phones having messaging and on-line capabilities.
[0032] Thus, the present method and system sets easy to achieve
personal progress goals for a variety of eating, activity, and
health measures. These goals are automatically calculated and
updated every day based on the individual's recorded choices over
the previous seven days. The formula for setting the goals is as
follows: a) Add the values for a particular measure from the last 7
days of recorded food or activity choices. b) Divide that total by
7. c) If the current average is less than the long-term goal, add
the average to the highest recorded value for the measure during
the last seven days, then divide by 2. If the current average is
greater than the long-term goal, add the current average to the
lowest recorded value for the measures during the last seven days,
then divide by 2. No other application is believed to have a
similar automated progressive goal-setting feature. When combined
with immediate feedback and point delivery for achieving progress
goals and the opportunity to exchange points for the user's choice
of incentive prizes (the shaping process), this feature is expected
to increase the probability that users will achieve their goals.
Again, since the goals are set within the range of the user's most
recent performance measures, differential reinforcement is
automatically provided by the method and system for achieving each
successive approximation to the target behavior.
[0033] The system's classification of foods as healthy, cautionary,
or unhealthy is well supported by research on the effects of eating
choices on disease risk.
[0034] The method and system's feature of automatic calculation and
graphical display of the current number of preventable disease risk
factors for life-style related diseases (arterial, cancer,
diabetes, osteoporosis, respiratory) is based on the user's last
seven days of recorded eating, activity, and health measures. A
display of advice on how to reduce those risk factors is specific
to those currently calculated for the user.
[0035] The method and system provides feedback dials for daily
progress goals, as in FIGS. 2, 4, and 6 and others, in which are
shown the calculated and updated current daily values or totals for
measures that predict disease risk based on the user's recorded
eating, activity, and health measures. The dials also display
current measures along with current personal progress goals, which
may be marked in different colors, as red and green areas, on each
feedback dial.
[0036] The method and system notifies the user immediately,
following his or her entry of eating, activity, or health measures,
that he or she has achieved one or more progress goals and earned
incentive points.
[0037] The learning program of the present system and method
includes: a) pre- and post-testing for each performance objective,
b) automatic sequencing of each learner through the pretest,
learning activity, and post-test sequence based on an automatic
comparison of the learner's actual performance to performance
goals, and c) progress graphs which display the user's "learning
efficiency." That measure is the amount of improvement per amount
of learner interaction time with the learning activity for a
particular objective.
[0038] The system and method has a body shape history and
projection feature, which allows users to import digital photos,
date stamps them, and arranges them in a slide show based on their
chronological order, allowing users to see how their body shapes
have changed and may in the future change over time by following
the program.
[0039] The system and method features calendar graphs that show
user progress over time for eating, activity, and health measures,
with progress shown both by movement toward long-term goal measures
marked on progress graphs for each type of measure.
[0040] A personal coaching feature allows only approved coaches to
record health measures for a particular user and to access those
measures, for personally advising the user on how to achieve health
goals and praising the user for making progress.
[0041] Users may create and add their own recipes to the method and
system database. If the recipe combines items from the database,
the method and system will calculate nutrient totals for the new
item. The method and system also allows users to create their own
workout routines from items in the activity database and
automatically calculates total values for that composite item. The
method and system allows users to request dietitians to add foods
or activities to the database.
[0042] Various alterations and modifications may be made to the
details of the operation of the present invention without departing
from the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the
appended claims.
* * * * *